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Thursday, March 1, 2012

GUNDAM AGE ep 20 review

Lemme just put it this way - Up until now in the Age series, there has not been a single episode that made me want to watch it AGAIN. But this one baby, THIS one, takes the cake. Ep 20 is THE episode where I honestly think I wouldn't mind watching all over again and still get a kick out of. Here's why:

THE ADVENT OF ZEYDRA

Need I say more? The entire episode itself is titled "The Red Mobile Suit". And no, we're not talking about the Sinanju lol. This is the answer to all of Vagan's prayers, or to put it more bluntly, the anti-Gundam of the series. Period. I think the momentum has just about reached its zenith with the unveiling of the Zeydra, a suit that can match the superhuman capabilities of X-Rounders, in this case, our dear Zeheart. My oh my I can't wait for the MG of this version to come out. Please Bandai, make it happen. I don't really have high hopes though, cos I'm still waiting for the Reborns Gundam from 00...

ZEHEART AND DESIL: The gallant anti-hero Vs the devious villain

Guess who's back? The psycho kid from Flit's generation - Desil! Woot. He's a full-grown man now, and more psychotic than before! What I like here is the juxtaposition of our two supposed villians who are both Vagans - Zeheart and Desil. One is pure of heart, despite belonging on the side that fights the Gundam, and the other, well, is a complete obvious nutcase. We've already got a plot-within-a-plot. Desil is probably itching for a re-match with the Gundam. (Who wants to make a wager that he's gonna be the one to settle an old score and kill Asemu's father, Flit?) And Desil probably also wants Zeheart's job, as we learn that the latter's been promoted over him. This is interesting stuff. This is villain-within-villain character depth we were waiting for throughout the whole series. This is why we put up with all that kiddy high school crap earlier. NOW we're talking some sense!

ZEHEART: Reluctant hero or Tortured villain?

My favourite character is fast becoming Zeheart, even though he's the enemy. That's impressive character development for a series that up till now, has mostly one-dimensional characters who are mostly black or white. Zeheart obviously has a conscience, is gallant, and is one helluva pilot. Admit it, you already want to see him whup Desil's ass, and you're a bit confused about whose side you're even on when Zeheart goes up against our golden boy, Asemu. That's the beauty of the current plot turn. I don't know about you, but I don't really feel for Asemu as much as I feel for Zeheart. One has the pressure of a superstar father, and is coming to terms with battling his friend. But the other has to grapple with his entire identity as a Vagan first, then a commander of men, deal with a deviant back-stabber from his own kind, AND face the torture of fighting a friend. No prizes for guessing which character at this point in the series has more depth here. It's obvious that Zeheart's modelled after Char from the UC series (face-mask, anyone?), but there's a more tender edge to Zeheart probably cos of his younger age, and the fact that Age is being screened in a more modern time means we're given the K pop drama treatment here as our young guns size each other up. (Remember the cool guitar rock music riffing in the background at the end of the ep when Desil mocks Zeheart for sparing Asemu?)

ASEMU'S COMING OF AGE

With all that's been said, there's still plenty of potential for Asemu's character to develop. He gets his ass handed to him by Zeheart, and his ego's whacked up. He's struggling with the fact that he cannot find his balls when facing a friend in combat. Perhaps by sparing him, Zeheart has dealt him an even greater blow psychologically. Can our hero overcome it? We're piqued. We're stoked. This is good. And you know it's getting better when Woolf says of a grieving Asemu: "Sometimes, a man just needs to be left alone." Oh yeah, sensitive new age macho stuff. Wicked. Cue haunting electro guitar riff.

EPIC FIGHT SCENE

Did we mention the epic fight scene? LOL. There's so much going on here we almost forgot about it. This is arguably the biggest fight scene of the series to date. And we're expecting more epic stuff to come, you best believe it, Sunrise. It's about time. Let's get going already dammit!